None of the other girls have worked recently with one of the judges in a major role in a big West end show which has just finished.
If Francesca thought that fact wouldn't come out once she'd made it into the show, she was deluding herself, and the fact that she did , put Denise in an awkward position. Even if they aren't close friends, Denise has a lot of insider information on Francesca which could be seen as an advantage the others didn't have.
Given the fact than Denise was announced as one of the panel before auditions started, maybe Francesca should have bided her time and auditioned for Nancy when the producers were looking to replace the winner of IDA, rather than lay herself open to the inevitable criticism.
She is also the only contestant who has come out of any of these shows saying that it was not a fantastic opportunity. The Marias, Josephs and now the Nancys are getting first class professional training while they are resident in the Nancy house, and all of them almost without exception leave saying they learnt a lot while they were in the show, and all have gone on to work or study in the field.
If anyone has had their confidence knocked, I would say Ashley, Keisha and Tara have taken more of a pasting from the panel over the 4 weeks of live shows than Fran ever did, and they have had some dodgy song choices to contend with too. For a gracious upbeat exit interview - go and listen to Tara's (and Amy and Cleos for that matter) to see what they have to say about it.
Fran was understandably gutted to be voted off so early, but she did rather let her tongue run away with her in her interview, and I'd imagine that she or her agent may well have asked for it to be taken off the website.
I think the articles in The Sun and The Mirror implying she and DVO were best mates put her under unfair pressure. She was in a no win situation - if she had a good week with good comments the favouritism tag circulated; if she had pitching problems and wasn't slaughtered by the panel her previous working relationship with DVO was given as the reason. Mention has been made of Lee's professional status, and the fact that he fulfilled expectations - but at least he didn't have to deal with allegations of personal friendship with one of the panel.
I don't think she was outclassed in the acting by anyone - on the contrary I think that is where we saw her potential. We saw in the sing off what she could do - both vocally and acting - she could convey the emotions of the song with just her facial expressions - no need for exaggerated arm movements etc. Sadly ALW chose to send her home, but her exit song confirmed (for me, anyway), that she was the equal of anyone else there.
i really think it was to her disadvantage the whole DVO thing. and as far as the ADWD thing with Lee, if I had to hear one more time " I don't know why I overlooked you as a leading man" drivel... once was enough.
If Francesca thought that fact wouldn't come out once she'd made it into the show, she was deluding herself, and the fact that she did , put Denise in an awkward position.
Given the fact than Denise was announced as one of the panel before auditions started, maybe Francesca should have bided her time and auditioned for Nancy when the producers were looking to replace the winner of IDA, rather than lay herself open to the inevitable criticism.
She is also the only contestant who has come out of any of these shows saying that it was not a fantastic opportunity. The Marias, Josephs and now the Nancys are getting first class professional training while they are resident in the Nancy house, and all of them almost without exception leave saying they learnt a lot while they were in the show, and all have gone on to work or study in the field.
For a gracious upbeat exit interview - go and listen to Tara's (and Amy and Cleos for that matter) to see what they have to say about it.
Fran was understandably gutted to be voted off so early, but she did rather let her tongue run away with her in her interview, and I'd imagine that she or her agent may well have asked for it to be taken off the website.
I don't really think it would have been fair to expect Fran to 'sit out' an opportunity like this - to audition for a role that she has always wanted to play, possibly since she played Bet in the previous West End production of 'Oliver' as a teenager. It's not really her 'fault' if it meant putting Denise in an awkward position - I presume they did have a chat at some point before Fran decided to go for it.
On the results show, when asked what she would take from the experience, she referred to everything she had learnt along the way - so I think she did appreciate that aspect of it.
Amy, Cleo, and Tara were more likely to give more positive interviews imo as IDA was really the starting point for their musical theatre careers - and they understandably feel like it has opened up a whole lot of new opportunities. I get the impression that Fran felt as though she'd actually taken a few steps backward in terms of confidence, self esteem etc as a result of the show, rather than building and improving on her previous experience.
Who knows why that exit interview has gone awol. She clearly meant what she said at the time though, even if it was in the heat of the moment, and I don't think she should regret saying it. She has made some of the same points in subsequent interviews, just in a more considered way.
In terms of comparing her with the other pros, I think she showed what she was really made of in the sing-offs (singing musical theatre songs) - it's just a shame that we never saw a sing-off between her and Rachel or Sarah. Then we would have got a clearer idea
i don't thin she really stood a chance, as soon as it came out she had worked with DVO no one would give her a chance. okay so she didn't perform to the best of her ability but that doesn't mean she couldn't play the role i mean jessie doesn't have the acting abilitie to play this role but she's one of the favourites. also she had a lot of negative press put onto her before the first live show so thats gonna dent your confidence straight away and you can't do really well at something if your not confident. she's only human!
Well whatever her reasons were for auditioning for Nancy in this way, she has certainly given any other established West End performers food for thought for the next show (if it happens). Bottom line is - if you can't sing pop - don't bother.
I was watching Lee's audition for ADWD again last night, and in it JB asked him outight why he was doing it as he was already established, and got the standard answer about always wanting to be Joseph. The difference between Lee and Fran was that Lee had never actually HAD a leading role - always been the understudy.
Fran had a lot to gain if she won, but a lot more to lose if she didn't, and putting it bluntly - she didn't deliver what was expected. Lee came out and showed week after week (apart from the one where he was "a bit rubbish") that he was a great actor as well as a singer no matter what song they threw at him. It was the same with Connie.
Fran showed in the sing offs that she is fantastic at musical theatre songs (although there were still a few bum notes in there), but her main performances were disappointing in comparison to the other girls, and whilst the likes of Jessie and Niamh (and to a lesser extent Jodie) have allowances made for their lack of experience, Fran disappointed the audience as was shown by her lack of votes.
Comments
If Francesca thought that fact wouldn't come out once she'd made it into the show, she was deluding herself, and the fact that she did , put Denise in an awkward position. Even if they aren't close friends, Denise has a lot of insider information on Francesca which could be seen as an advantage the others didn't have.
Given the fact than Denise was announced as one of the panel before auditions started, maybe Francesca should have bided her time and auditioned for Nancy when the producers were looking to replace the winner of IDA, rather than lay herself open to the inevitable criticism.
She is also the only contestant who has come out of any of these shows saying that it was not a fantastic opportunity. The Marias, Josephs and now the Nancys are getting first class professional training while they are resident in the Nancy house, and all of them almost without exception leave saying they learnt a lot while they were in the show, and all have gone on to work or study in the field.
If anyone has had their confidence knocked, I would say Ashley, Keisha and Tara have taken more of a pasting from the panel over the 4 weeks of live shows than Fran ever did, and they have had some dodgy song choices to contend with too. For a gracious upbeat exit interview - go and listen to Tara's (and Amy and Cleos for that matter) to see what they have to say about it.
Fran was understandably gutted to be voted off so early, but she did rather let her tongue run away with her in her interview, and I'd imagine that she or her agent may well have asked for it to be taken off the website.
I don't really think it would have been fair to expect Fran to 'sit out' an opportunity like this - to audition for a role that she has always wanted to play, possibly since she played Bet in the previous West End production of 'Oliver' as a teenager. It's not really her 'fault' if it meant putting Denise in an awkward position - I presume they did have a chat at some point before Fran decided to go for it.
On the results show, when asked what she would take from the experience, she referred to everything she had learnt along the way - so I think she did appreciate that aspect of it.
Amy, Cleo, and Tara were more likely to give more positive interviews imo as IDA was really the starting point for their musical theatre careers - and they understandably feel like it has opened up a whole lot of new opportunities. I get the impression that Fran felt as though she'd actually taken a few steps backward in terms of confidence, self esteem etc as a result of the show, rather than building and improving on her previous experience.
Who knows why that exit interview has gone awol. She clearly meant what she said at the time though, even if it was in the heat of the moment, and I don't think she should regret saying it. She has made some of the same points in subsequent interviews, just in a more considered way.
In terms of comparing her with the other pros, I think she showed what she was really made of in the sing-offs (singing musical theatre songs) - it's just a shame that we never saw a sing-off between her and Rachel or Sarah. Then we would have got a clearer idea
That scenario was never going to happen.
I was watching Lee's audition for ADWD again last night, and in it JB asked him outight why he was doing it as he was already established, and got the standard answer about always wanting to be Joseph. The difference between Lee and Fran was that Lee had never actually HAD a leading role - always been the understudy.
Fran had a lot to gain if she won, but a lot more to lose if she didn't, and putting it bluntly - she didn't deliver what was expected. Lee came out and showed week after week (apart from the one where he was "a bit rubbish") that he was a great actor as well as a singer no matter what song they threw at him. It was the same with Connie.
Fran showed in the sing offs that she is fantastic at musical theatre songs (although there were still a few bum notes in there), but her main performances were disappointing in comparison to the other girls, and whilst the likes of Jessie and Niamh (and to a lesser extent Jodie) have allowances made for their lack of experience, Fran disappointed the audience as was shown by her lack of votes.
That wasn't really my point.
I was saying that the only real way to have compared the 'professionals' singing muscial theatre songs would have been in a sing-off.
Like the Daniel and Lewis sing off..........AWL put the pro off and Daniel was so much better than lewis.....
AWL is a strange man...........:)